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This study investigates into the need for developing Korean language textbooks for self-study and analyzes the general idea, development direction and principles behind them. On the basis of real examples from Standard Korean Language Textbook (2014, HRD Korea) for EPS-TOPIK, the study aims to provide a plan for developing self-study supplementary textbooks for future Indonesian migrant workers. In contrary to textbooks used by teachers and students in Korean language classes, a textbook for self-study is centered around the student and meant to be used without a teacher. The self-study textbook proposed in this study is to provide functions of a teacher’s manual, a workbook and a workbook for EPS-TOPIK. The principles behind it are as follows: (1) to develop to be learners friendly, (2) to develop from the contrastive linguistics perspective, (3) to develop on the basis of the Multiple Intelligence Theory, (4) to present using a virtual/imaginary teacher, (5) to provide various devices that would prevent students from quitting early, (6) to diversify and systemize types of practice for improving language abilities, (7) to record and present Hangeul and key explanations about grammatical items in the students’ mother tongue. Such a textbook will be able to provide real learning opportunities to those who have been unable to learn Korean Languages due to absence of either Korean language educational institutions or teachers. By establishing both systematic links between Korean language education before and after entering Korea and a system of self-study for individual future foreign migrant workers it will be possible to further expand the propagation of Korean language.

This study explores the current state of Korean language education in the United States. It aims to predict the future of Korean language use by future generations of Koreans. For this purpose relevant previous research is reviewed and relevant data is collected using the methodology from a survey conducted on more than 1,000 Korean-Americans. The analysis of the perception reveals that the 91% of participants responded positively about teaching Korean language to their children. This result implies that the majority of Korean-Americans realize that Korean proficiency is essential for family communication and successful career for their children. A significant number of participants from the 2nd and 1.5th generation immigrants whose Korean proficiency is relatively weak showed interest in learning Korean. Moreover, many of them responded that they would like to learn Korean even up to an advanced level. On the basis of the survey, this study proposes the following suggestions. Firstly, the goals and the principles of the Korean language education policy for Korean-Americans should be defined in multi-dimensional ways. Secondly, the expertise of the Korean language teachers needs to be improved. Lastly, the Korean government should consider assisting Korean Schools with professional teachers and appropriate materials in order to improve their educational environment. Therefore, this study contributes to Korean language education by reflecting the need of Korean-Americans to facilitate and reinforce the Korean language education in the US.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the usage patterns and productive word-formation units of complex words appeared in the Korean educational materials. This study considers the linkage with the Korean education curriculum based on analysis of vocabulary appeared in the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) materials and Korean Language Corpus (KTC). In addition, this study is based on the vocabulary frequency analysis of the general Korean by the National Institute of the Korean Language (2002) and 강범모 etc (2009). Specific results of this study are as follows. First, this study analyzes the aspects of complex words in the Korean educational materials. Specifically, this study examines the degree of overlap among complex words across the Korean materials and provides the list of complex words with higher frequency by analyzing the distribution of complex words by part of speech. Second, this study analyzes the word-formation units(affix for derivatives and word-root for compound words) constituting the complex words and finds the order of word-formation units with a high word-forming capability. Third, this study provides the characteristics of semi-complex words appeared in the Korean educational materials.

This study is about a cultural centre class for adaptation of foreign learners to Korean culture. This study aims to suggest step-by-step culture teaching methods for ‘cultural adaptation’ of foreign learners. Step-by-step learning is divided into three steps; classroom learning → indirect experience through media → cultural experience activity and each step is subdivided into the beginning step, the intermediate step and the last step. Here, ‘cultural centre’ means to integrate other instructions of language functions focusing on culture, like existing content-based teaching, task-based and theme-based teaching methods, which integrate language functions for language teaching. The step-by-step culture education plan suggested in this study doesn’t take new data construction of Korean language teachers or organization of class hours into account. The ultimate purpose is to help teachers obtain educational effects only by reorganizing present cultural experience or teaching material-based cultural knowledge classes depending on the steps. If teachers, who are worried about what to teach and show, prepare contents with the same theme for cultural experience, it would be helpful in providing a systematic class and positively influence learners to internalize cultural knowledge that they learn and adapt to Korean culture.

This study provides each applied learning content of three educational system of Korean culturology. For this study, we interviewed educators of Korean language education field through e-mail and the questions were about adequate learning contents fitted each educational system of Korean culturology. Based on interviews, we described similarities and differences of culture education contents they provided. Especially, common learning contents play an important role for the building the system of Korean culturology. These contents were provided research participants. We emphasize that Korean culture education has to assume both Korean and international students as a learner. In this context, Korean culturology focused on the contents centered in ethnology, in socio-culture and in Korean studies. Our assumption is valid to the contribution of developing Korean culturology education.

The goal of this study is to make educational materials about various usage of the terms of address on the relatives for Korean learners. Until now, the terms of address on the relatives have been provided as the educational contents such as typical type and the various usage, but these are only focused on the illustration and contexts. Therefore Korean learners have to understand about sociolinguistic background to understand the intention that the speaker controls psychological distance. Therefore we extracted sentences that include the terms of address on the relatives from Sejong Colloquial and Semi Colloquial Corpus, classifying by the sociolinguistic facts. The six sociolinguistic facts are age, the status of family, social status, sex, identity of the listener, and the formality of the situation. After analyzing materials, we concluded that identity and age of the listeners are the most important factors among these. In addition, we categorized the type of relation between speaker and listener, and described briefly the psychic distance intended by the speaker that uses the terms of address. This study would be useful to establish educational contents for Korean learners to understand sociolinguistic factors, involved in various usage of the terms of address on the relatives.

This thesis focuses on foundation research to outline content and direction of ‘self-reflection’ writing for foreign university students. Writing class has been positioned as a ‘must’ not only a ‘necessary’ subject in university education curriculum. Various writing classes such as writing classes tailored by departments, classic literature reading and writing, discussion and writing, show the writing classes have been diversified by considering students background and collaborated with related studies. The ‘self-reflection’ writing is related with a process of finding ‘self-identity’. Like other students, foreign students studying in Korea are also in the stage of finding their own ‘self-identities’. Therefore, it’s necessary to design separate ‘self-reflection’ writing classes only for foreign students like other writing classes in universities today, as there are clear differences or common grounds between foreign and local students. However, ‘self-reflection’ writing is still very new concept to foreign students. Therefore, this thesis aims to review the correction between identified factors influencing ‘self-identity’ finding such as the level of ‘Korean proficiency’ or stress from ‘cultural adoption’ and the ‘self-identity’ finding process. The research may provide a direction on ‘self-reflection’ writing classes for foreign students. First, correlation analysis shows there is no significant relationship between a process of finding ‘self-identity’ and ‘Korean proficiency’. This analysis result shows that ‘self-reflection’ writing class is a necessary class for all foreign students without regarding their level of Korean proficiency because their ‘self-identities’ finding process does not depend on Korean proficiency. However, there is clear correlation between the process of finding ‘self-identity’ and the level of stress for ‘Korea cultural adoption’, which shows a direction to design content for the ‘self-reflection’ classes. In a different word, providing content helping students’ Korean cultural adoption leading to reduce the stress of the cultural adoption process can help them to find their ‘self-identity’. Finally, it’s necessary to tailor the level of difficulties of literature material when we provide it to students, as the research shows the lower the Korean proficiency students have, the higher stress level they have for Korean cultural adoption.

The purposes of this study were to explore the possibility of postmodern picture books as a Korean reading materials. From the results of this study we could make the following conclusions. First, intertextuality is a process of revising and expanding the horizon of the reader’s thought through the mutual relationship between various historical texts and contemporary texts. Second, postmodern picturebooks can be reading materials stimulating the readers’ interest because the storybooks include unique characteristics such as non‐linear narratives, self directed components, and meta‐fictions and therefore it is possible to approach from highly diverse viewpoints. Third, this study conducted analysis for work centered intertextuality, author‐centered intertextuality, and reader centered intertextuality, and this process of analysis confirmed that there can be a large number of combinations of multiple texts depending on applied criteria. Fourth, this study showed that postmodern picture books can be an effective reading resource for Korean Education as a Foreign Language.